HOT COMMODITY: Dallas’ Brad Richards could eventually end up wearing a Rangers uniform, but GM Glen Sather says the price must be right. Photo: Getty Images

Brad Richards can wait.

You know what, if Rangers general manager Glen Sather cares to pony up Marc Staal or Michael Del Zotto and Brandon Dubinsky or Ryan Callahan, then the Rangers undoubtedly would have Richards, the blue-chip Dallas first-line center in the final season of his contract at a $7.8 million cap hit, in time for tonight’s opening faceoff at Tampa Bay.

The Post has learned, however, that Sather has no intention of offering the financially distressed Stars that absurd combination of young guns, or indeed any permutation of emerging Bluebloods to fill the need for an upper-echelon playmaker to skate with Marian Gaborik, though the absence of such a pivot wouldn’t seem to have had anything to do with No. 10’s puzzling disappearing act against the Flames in Monday’s rollicking 2-1 victory at the Garden.

There is no doubt Sather will mount up, cry giddyup, and pursue Richards — who won the Conn Smythe playing for coach John Tortorella’s 2004 Stanley Cup-winning Lightning — once he hits the open market on July 1.

But keep in mind that though the check writer will be willing, summer cap space is going to be a squeeze, factoring in Wade Redden’s returning $6.5 million hit; the $10-11 million the Rangers will have to set aside for pending Group II free agents Callahan, Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov; the absence of an additional bonus cushion in the final year of the CBA; and the possibility, if not likelihood, the NHPA will vote against triggering an additional five percent hike in the cap.

Rest assured, Sather will closely monitor the situation with Richards approaching the Feb. 28 trade deadline, at which time the Rangers will have 18 games remaining.

Still, unless the team has emerged as a legitimate Cup contender needing that one missing piece to put it over the top, a rather far-fetched scenario no matter how engaging this group might be, it is far more likely the GM would choose to wait four months when acquiring the 30-year-old (as of May 2) will cost only money and not assets.

Indeed, the GM’s immediate focus on the trade market, as it has been since September, is to find a lefty defenseman, though there is less urgency now than there was three weeks ago before Michael Sauer, Steve Eminger and Matt Gilroy all lifted their respective games in the absence of Michal Rozsival, who is due to return from a shoulder injury that has sidelined him for seven games either on Friday against the Panthers or Saturday in Nashville.

Gilroy, who will be the victim when Rozsival rejoins the lineup, finally has gained somewhat of a comfort level playing on the left for the first time. He has regained the offensive instincts he flashed early in last year’s rookie season, appearing confident carrying the puck without abandoning his responsibilities on defense.

It won’t be “fair” for Gilroy to return to civilian clothes any more than it has been “fair” for Sean Avery to be consigned to a fourth-line role that’s sparing, but at the least, the defenseman’s work has increased his value on the market, both relating to trades and his summer unrestricted free agency.

Again, there is no doubt Sather will attempt to acquire a veteran lefty as a rental in advance of the deadline, but not at the cost of an athlete who is perceived to be part of the core going forward.

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The Rangers yesterday acquired Stu Bickel from the Ducks for Nigel Williams in a trade of minor league defensemen. Bickel, 24, was assigned to Hartford of the AHL.